Never before had she had the confidence to sit atop of a man shirtless unless shadowed by the dark, but with Cain she had learned not to fear her body. He told her how pretty she was every chance he got. She was coming to embrace the curves that she had always considered a curse.
Although they were often rough and aggressive when they were intimate, there were also moments of gentleness she valued. Cain was an amazing lover. He was, without a doubt, the most incredible man she had ever been with. He had a body that should be photographed and the stamina of a god. He could bring her pleasure with just the brush of his fingertips. He demanded more from her than any man ever had, and she gave him every bit of herself willingly, every bit but her heart.
Her body fluttered when he was near. That delicious tumble inside her belly always came when Cain would press himself up behind her and whisper something erotic into her ear when others were around. He tied her in knots yet knew where all her kinks were.
She only had to think about him and she became aroused, but what turned her on most were the sweet ways he always asked about her day and the way she sometimes caught him staring at her. Yes, she was playing a very dangerous game with her heart.
She found him in the work barn. He was hammering some sort of peg into a piece of wood. She watched him for a minute. The sun slicing through the shadows played over his muscled sides like light catches on the tiny ripples of a lake, painting each dip gold and white.
There was a small woodstove burning next to the work table that filled the barn with heat. He placed the hammer on the work table and lifted the board, examining it for flaws. He turned toward the bright entrance of the barn and paused when he noticed her.
His mouth curved slowly. “Hey, beautiful.”
Warmth spread through her chest. He was alone. “Hey. What are you making?”
“A desk for Cybil.” He tossed the strip of wood aside and turned to face her. Crossing his arms loosely over his bare chest, he asked, “Aren’t you spending the afternoon baking with Gracie and Anna?”
“I wanted to come see what you were up to. I missed you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You look as though you’re after something.”
She shrugged. Electricity arced between them. The air tightened around them, and her body yearned to be closer to him. He looked at her knowingly, and her desires only grew.
“Shut the door, Destiny.”
Her belly quivered, and her thighs tightened. She turned and found the heavy wooden handle to the door. She slid it to the left as a wheel attached to a pulley, anchored with a weight lowered to the ground. The interior of the barn was suddenly bathed in shadows. She faced him.
“Take off your shirt.”
She first removed her coat and hung it from a wooden peg on the wall. Her fingers undid the shirt. She slid the material down her arms, and goose bumps chased up her skin. It was warm for early March, but there was still a chill in the air.
“Undo the rest.”
She unhooked the clasp at her bra, and her breasts spilled free of the fabric.
“Now come to me.”
She walked slowly toward him. He didn’t move from where he leaned against the work table. He only waited for her to come to him. She stood before him, arms at her side, and waited as he looked down at her, taking in every bit of her exposed flesh. She lowered her eyes and noticed that he was aroused.
His fingers lightly touched the tips of her nipples, and she shivered. He then lifted her chin and ran a thumb over her lower lip. “Such a pretty mouth. I bet you could do all kinds of sweet things with those full lips, can’t you?”
Her belly clenched, and arousal flooded her panties. She nodded.
“Show me.”
She stepped closer and reached for his suspenders. Her hand grazed the hard muscles of his chest and caressed each corded bulge running down his arms as she slid the straps down his shoulders. Her fingers went to the snap at his waist, and she slowly undid his pants.
His trousers slid loosely down his hips, and his cock sprang free. She carefully took him in her hand and ran her thumb over the pearl of dew at the tip, spreading the liquid beneath her palm as she stroked him.
He moaned. “That feels nice, but you know it isn’t what I want.” She looked at him, and the authority shining in his eyes filled her with liquid heat and anticipation. “On your knees, Destiny.”
She dropped to the dirt floor of the barn. A sprinkling of hay covered the ground. Her excitement overruled the sting beneath her knees. His cock was beautiful, long and hard, smooth and thick. She licked her lips and nuzzled her cheek against his soft flesh. Slowly Destiny took him into her mouth. Cain hissed and grabbed a handful of her hair. Her curly locks knotted around his fist. It had been days since she had been able to wear it straight, but Cain said he liked it just as much curly.
She leaned forward, taking him to the back of her throat, and his fist tightened almost painfully in her hair. She loved the pinch his hold sent along her scalp. Her saliva coated his hard flesh as she bobbed up and down over him. He never released her, knowing she got off by his show of control.
He flexed his hips, and she no longer had to move as much. He thrust his cock deep in her mouth, and she took all of him, surrendering her own body for his pleasure. There may have been something twisted inside of her that wanted him to use her this way, but Cain understood it, even if she didn’t completely comprehend what drove her to want such things.
He rode her mouth hard, but never lost control, never gave her more than she could tolerate or took more than she wanted to give. He thickened along her tongue, and she knew he was close. He was forcing himself past her lips with hard fast pumps of his hips. She wanted him to lose control.
Suddenly he pulled his cock from her mouth and reached for her. He lifted her to her feet, and her legs shook from kneeling on the cold ground. He swept his hands across the work table, and all of his tools went scattering to the ground. He turned her so she faced the cleared surface and pressed her chest down against the wood.
His booted feet kicked at her ankles, and she widened her stance. “Hold onto the edge of the table, Destiny, and don’t let go until I come.”
She gripped the far edge of the smooth wooden surface as he flipped up the back of her skirt. He tore her panties off of her, and she had the brief thought that she would now be going commando. He stepped close to her, his warm thighs pressing against hers. The head of his arousal nudged at her soft opening, and he took no time at all seating himself deep inside of her.
She moaned, and he grunted. He held her hips as he pounded into her so hard her feet nearly left the ground with each stroke. He gripped her flesh hard, and she reveled in the feel of him marking her skin.
“Call my name. Who is inside of you?” he growled.
“Cain!” she cried as he plunged deliciously deep.
“That’s right.”
Her sex fluttered around his huge cock, and he continued to force himself deeper into her tightening channel. Never in her life had she felt so possessed, so fully owned. Although he was being demanding and rough, he held onto his control and never made her feel any sense of fear or danger. All she felt was pleasure. For the first time in her life, she felt ecstasy from a man who knew how to give it to her exactly as she wanted it.
* * * *
Cain bit back his anger as he fucked her. She had come into the barn just as he had been thinking how badly he wished he could see her. It was as if he conjured her, as if she sensed his need for her.
When he spotted her there watching him, something inside of him snapped. She was so damn beautiful, so unlike any woman he had ever known. He needed to have her in that moment and then his mind reminded him he had better take her while he could because soon she would be gone.
He pushed the unsettling thought away and focused on their desires. As always she touched a part of him no other woman had ever been able to reach. Perhaps it was her submissiveness. Perhaps it was the way she look
ed at him with such adoration while everyone else saw him as an accident waiting to happen. He never wanted her to stop looking at him that way.
For the past several days, he wracked his brain trying to figure out a way to keep her. He didn’t want to let her go. When she lowered herself to her knees before him, he became enraged at the injustice that the mortal woman who had somehow managed to make him feel, managed to make him smile again, would soon be gone from his life like every other good thing he had ever coveted. He had never felt so damned, and now he was punishing her for his own ill luck.
He shoved his cock into her forcefully, and she cried out as her sex clamped down around him. Damn her for enjoying it as much as he was.
He was too rough, too aggressive. Women were supposed to crave gentleness. That was what made it easy to walk away from them all, the fact that none of them could truly give him what he wanted, what he needed. But not Destiny, no, she was able to give as much as she took. She enjoyed sex as much as he did and with an intensity that kept him intrigued and never wanting to let her go.
Her orgasm came down around him like a crashing wave, swallowing him whole. He quickly shoved his cock into her warm, quivering channel two more times then quickly withdrew as his seed shot across the soft caramel curve of her ass. He wanted to fill her with his essence.
Her white-knuckled grip released the edge of the table. She had done exactly as he asked of her. Feeling like a brute, he carefully turned her and lifted her to his arms. She wrapped her legs around his hips and held onto him as he kissed and soothed her stretched muscles.
“You are so gorgeous, Destiny,” he crooned as he ran his fingers over her and brushed her dark curls away from her face. “Such an incredible woman.” Words continued to fall from his lips unthinkingly. It just felt natural to hold her afterward and tell her how much she meant to him. He meant everything he said. She was the most unique, incredible woman he had ever been with. “You were wonderful, Destiny. I love you.”
She stiffened, and he suddenly realized what he had said. He wanted to take the words back, but couldn’t. He said them because he meant them and some twisted part of him wanted her to know that he loved her even though there was nothing either of them could ever do about it.
Chapter 22
Larissa arrived a short time after Destiny had left. The three sisters cooed over little Cain and passed him around with gentle hands, each female bestowing loving whispers upon his ears and kisses on his pink, wrinkled brow.
“Where is the bishop, Larissa?” Anna asked as she handed Gracie the baby.
“He took Dane to his grandmother’s place.”
Gracie stilled. She hadn’t expected Eleazar to allow him to go just yet, although there was no reason why he shouldn’t be permitted. She focused on little Cain and feigned disinterest, but felt the two of them watching her.
“This is the second time he’s gone with him.”
Grace’s head perked up at Larissa’s words. “Second time?”
“Yes. He went yesterday and found some sort of journal that belonged to his mother. Whatever was in there seems to have upset Dane. He demanded Eleazar take him back.”
“What did the journal say?” Anna asked.
“I’m not sure. Dane wasn’t very forthcoming when Eleazar asked him. He simply asked him to take him back, and when Eleazar hesitated, Dane threatened to go on his own if he didn’t.” Larissa looked to Grace. “Was he close to his mother?”
She shrugged. “We have never discussed her. We are no closer than the rest of you.” Anna snickered. “What’s so funny?”
“You. You like him, Gracie. We all see it.”
She scoffed. “I do not like him. We are friends. That is all.”
“Kissing friends,” Anna mumbled as she bit into a cookie.
Gracie snatched the cookie out of her hand before she could put more of it in her mouth. “I have never kissed him!”
“All right, relax, Gracie. Anna’s only teasing,” Larissa said calmly.
“Well it isn’t true. Dane is mortal and not my mate. I have no interest in him.”
Anna snatched another cookie from the plate on the table. “A little sensitive for someone who teased me every chance she got when I came around. Not very fair.”
She scowled at her sister-in-law, and Larissa said, “You know, Grace, just because he isn’t your mate, does not mean you can’t kiss him.”
She turned to her sister. “Why would I want to kiss him if I don’t like him?”
“Maybe you’d like his kisses,” Anna said over a mouthful of cookie.
“Doubtful.”
“Why? Kissing is fun. You’re a woman now. You should feel free to kiss a few males before your calling. Besides, what if your calling takes centuries? Do you intend to remain a virgin?” Larissa asked.
Gracie’s cheeks burned. “That is none of your business! And you’re one to talk. Since when are you such an advocate of such acts?”
“Since I stopped acting them out with Silus,” Larissa said smugly.
“Ew!” Gracie gripped her temples as an image of her sister and the bishop filled her mind. “I’d appreciate it if you controlled your lascivious thoughts.”
The two of them giggled, then Anna said in a patronizing tone, “What’s the matter, Gracie, not feeling nosey?”
“No one wants to see what I just saw. He’s the bishop!”
“Oh, Eleazar isn’t that bad,” Anna defended. “He’s actually kind of handsome when he isn’t being crotchety.
“I’m glad you think so,” the bishop said, and the three females gasped and turned to the door in unison. Eleazar and Dane stood just inside the kitchen. The bishop’s eyes bore into Larissa’s. “What were you thinking, Larissa?”
Gracie squealed as her sister replayed the carnal thought. The bishop smiled wickedly and said in a husky voice, “Come, we have matters at home that need attending.”
The two newlyweds hurried off. Anna took little Cain and began bundling him up in his basket. Gracie busied herself with cleaning up and ignored Dane’s gaze which was fastened on her. When Annalise left, there was an awkward silence.
“Larissa says you found a journal that belonged to your mother.”
He appeared distracted and sat down without removing his coat. Taking pity on him, she brought him a cup of coffee.
“Did you read it?”
He nodded. “Oh, I read it.”
“Did you find anything interesting?”
He shrugged as if to disguise the frustration radiating from him. “Sure, I guess. It would be a lot more interesting if I could make sense of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“The dates from the year Cybil was born. She keeps talking about me, but I don’t live with her. I don’t remember ever living anywhere else.”
“Where did you live?”
“With some woman she calls Daphne.” He frowned.
“You don’t know who Daphne is?”
“I’ve never heard of her. Mom had a lot of friends, but never anyone by that name. That’s not all. She talks about my dad, but they’re not married yet. He lives in a dorm, and she lives with my grandmother. The entire thing’s like a work of fiction.”
Gracie sat, giving him her full attention. “Maybe that’s what it is.”
He shook his head. “No. There are numbers and stuff written here and there. Like for bank accounts and things. There’re also parts I know are true, like where my dad went to college and places my grandfather worked. There’s reference to a painting my grandmother did, and I know which one it is. Everything adds up except for where Cybil and I come in.”
“Do you think you could ask Cybil about it?”
He pursed his lips. “No. It would just upset her. It would be too difficult to have that kind of conversation with her anyway.”
“Why did you go back?”
“To find more journals. I found a few, but the dates are jumbled. I’m gonna read through them tonight and try to p
ut them in order. When I opened one up on the ride back, I read the weirdest thing. My mom talks about me. She says I ‘came over to play.’ I’m starting to get this sick feeling.”
“Maybe you should just let it go, keep your memories the way they are,” she suggested softly.
“Why? Because they’re so pleasant? My mom was murdered, Grace. My sister and I saw him with her dead body, and Cybil hasn’t talked since. Less than a year later, and my grandmother dies because she doesn’t think we’re enough to live for. My dad died when I was six, and as much as it kills me to admit it, I can barely remember him. I can’t remember anything before the age of six. That’s not normal.”
“It’s okay, Dane. Calm down. We’ll figure it out. I’ll help you. Whatever you need, I’ll help you.”
His lips were taut, and Grace sensed he was on the verge of tears. Dane would hate to show such emotion in front of her, yet he seemed to be fighting a losing battle. She slid her chair closer and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He was taller than her, but not by much.
His arms fit around her the moment she embraced him. He held her tightly and pressed his face into the curve of her neck. She thought she heard him quietly sob. He smelled nice, like Dane, and his skin was warm where it touched hers. She ran her hand over his soft hair.
“I can’t lose anymore, Gracie,” he whispered sadly against her neck, and the heat of his tears pressed into her skin. Her heart broke for him.
She held him. “You won’t, Dane. I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of it. We just have to find out what it is.”
Chapter 23
Destiny stood under the cool water waiting for her mind to snap out of whatever kind of haze she was in, but her stupid heart didn’t want to be rational at the moment. He loved her. Cain had told her he loved her, and Destiny knew she loved him back. However, there was no good that could come from all that emotion. He was Amish and, well, she was the furthest thing from Amish that there was.